About Us

A little bit more about Back of the Net

Back of the Net is a collaboration of the opinions and thoughts of Sean Barker, Sam Davis, and Michael Dunne – all avid AFC Bournemouth fans for the majority of their lives. Sam and Sam played Sunday League together for many years in a football team called Locomotive T&D (later to become Ferndown Locomotive), in a changing room which was dominated with Cherries fans… with the odd Scummer here and there. Michael has been a Bournemouth supporter since Easter 1982 when his Dad took him along to the old Dean Court to see Dave Webb’s promotion chasing Cherries beat Torquay United 4-0.

Whilst Sam and Michael live locally, Sean lives slightly further away from the Vitality Stadium – nearly 12000 miles away infact, as he now resides in Wellington, NZ – after emigrating there in 2007. Sean, Sam and Michael have a healthy fascination of broadcasting and new media, therefore, with the thirst for AFC Bournemouth related information being more intense than ever, the idea of a magazine style AFC Bournemouth podcast was mooted – and “Back of the Net” was soon born.

Since being in New Zealand, Sean followed in the footsteps of his Dad, with a regular music show called Listen Up, showcasing the best in new and eclectic music. For those that don’t know, his Dad Geoff was the breakfast presenter for Classic Gold 828 for many years down in Southcote Road in Bournemouth, and was the man on the mic at Dean Court too. Sean has many loves in his life, none more so than his little daughter Skye, who is proudly donning her AFC Bournemouth shirt in the photo.

Sam used to run unofficial AFC Bournemouth website Boscombe on the Web, alongside Jon Sharkey – the website was the online destination for many AFC Bournemouth fans who wanted to keep up to date with the latest goings on at the old Dean Court, and then the new. The Sunday night chats were a regular feature of the site, and many people can probably remember the umpteen spats on the message-boards between Trevor Watkins and a certain T.W.O. – whatever happened to him?

Michael is the brain behind the excellent All Departments podcast, which has successfully reflected the fan experience at Dean Court for many seasons. He had the fortune of covering some incredibly glorious seasons for the Cherries, as well as being there for the less successful spells. Michael says that he has always had a sense of enormous good fortune to have grown up in a town with its own League team. As well as his concise match reports, you can often hear him giving his opinion on events at the Vitality and beyond.

All three have “been there and bought the t-shirt” in terms of being part of the highs and lows of being a Bournemouth supporter, including receivership, administrations, point deductions, and relegations – as well as the promotions, the takeovers and ultimately, the Premier League.

To hear more about our background with the Cherries, you can listen to our introductory podcast called “Not the First Episode” – which provides a little bit of information about us, as well as telling you what you can expect in our shows.

Back of the Net is an unofficial podcast devoted to AFC Bournemouth. We are not affiliated with the club in any way and the opinions expressed on this website or on the podcast do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the staff, players or management of AFC Bournemouth. If you have any queries or concerns with the content of this podcast, please email info@afcbpodcast.com, where we will be happy to rectify any issues immediately.